A Girl with Seven Names
by thatnerdgirlxo
Summary: Fourteen years ago Nick Fury took in two year old Milo. Two years ago Milo was taken. A year ago Milo was retrieved. When Nick sends her on her first mission back, her life will become a series of decisions. Milo will join Phil Coulson's team with the intention of observation with two major rules. Rule 1 Don't speak of Hydra. Rule 2 Don't tell Coulson he's a father, let alone hers.
1. Chapter 1: Surprises

A/N: Hey guys, I'm not positive that I'm going to keep up with this, but here's a tester chapter. Let me know and I hope you like Milo as much as I do!

Chapter 1: Surprise

I straightened my pencil skirt, hating every minute in the infernal thing. I knew it was only for an hour or so while Agent May briefed me on my mission, but I hated it nonetheless. The woman in front of me stared directly at my face. Directly at my eyes is more like it.

"I apologize, Agent Ghost. You look just like him." I smiled at Agent May, not really meaning it. If I had a nickel for every time I had heard that I'd be on a yacht, not Director Fury's office.

"Well, Agent May, You'll never tell when I put the contacts in." I assured the woman as she hardened her stare. Director Fury coughed, he was always so subtle in his pursuits for attention. This time I meant it as I grinned at the man who took me in as a kid.

"Re-state the mission, Ghost." Fury was no nonsense, and like the teen I was, I rolled my eyes, sighing for effect. There was a good chance that he was the one who instilled my sarcasm anyway.

"Yes, Mom." Nick glared at me, the smallest hint of a smile on his lips. I noticed Maria Hill waiting on the other side of the door. "My mission, Sir, is to infiltrate Phil Coulson's team under the alias Milo Ghost, aged twenty three, which is almost six years older than the reality, if I may add. I am to earn Coulson's trust and keep tabs on all of his habits using my skills of observation over time. Report back to you- keep talk of Hydra limited and try not to die. Most crucial aspect, Sir, maintain Coulson's ignorance to the fact that I am his daughter. Mission accepted." Nick looked down at me, pride in his eye.

"Good work, Milo. I decided to keep your first name. It will make it easier to fabricate a persona if there is a familiarity." He grinned, which seemed to make Agent May rather uncomfortable. "Any questions?" I nodded with a dimpled smile.

"Can I tell him about Hydra, so that he feels he can trust me? It would also be a good idea to share my triggers with the team, Sir." I picked at my nails, hoping that I could do the mission justice. I really wasn't an agent fit for combat, but this was necessary, I owed Fury my life. I couldn't stand to let him down.

"I trust you, Milo. You're a smart girl, Hell I raised you." He nearly knocked over my water bottle with his hand gestures drawing out a giggle. "Be careful, Milo. Trust those instincts of yours. Head on a swivel." I gave another curt nod, waiting until Hill lead Agent may out the door to pull Nick into a hug. "If you feel you need to disobey orders, warn me."

"Thank you, really. Without you, I would be dead and fatherless. Frankly that sounds shitty." His large, dark hand mussed up my curls before sending me out of the room. I sucked in a desperate breath. I was sixteen and going into the field. Can you say, Holy shit? I wasn't surprised, to be honest. I could hardly call myself a kid after what Hydra did to me. That entire year changed every single aspect about me.I could remember the blinding clinical lights in the procedure room I felt a sickening shudder as I tried to ground myself. I lead my slim fingers to trace a brick from the wall behind me forcing the pads of my finger to feel the rough edges and divots, noting every jagged pore until my breathing slowed.

"Agent Ghost, follow me for the decoy briefing." Agent Hill gently addressed me, holding out a package of brown contacts. I palmed the package and obediently followed her down the darkening hallway. Agents nodded at me in acknowledgement as we passed I returned them courteously. I was well known to these few agents that Nick Fury trusted. I was the girl he picked up along the way, and I was metamorphosed into a fairy tale, spread around S.H.I.E.L.D. like an old wive's tale. Only those in this department knew my true identity as Milo, Nick Fury's pet. The ride was much shorter than expected, which left minimal time for me to mentally prepare myself. As we rushed through the base that Agent Hill was charged with, I fell behind May and Hill. My heart was in my throat and my head was swimming. It hadn't hit me that I was so close to meeting my father. I thought to myself clinically and analytically. It was better that he was unaware of my parental situation, as being informed of my time with Hydra and the situation generally would be a distraction on the field, adding unnecessary danger. Besides, no father should know the ungodly things that Hydra put me through.

I gave my daily silent thanks to the Winter Soldier, one day I would thank him in person. Maybe I could use my father for that. My eyes itched from the contacts, but as Hill lead me to a room, I realized it was too late to do anything. I had to go through with the brief while May pretended to push papers. Inside this room seemed to be another male agent, probably Ward the specialist who was hand picked. He wore a pristine suit and his expression was severe. I sat beside him, keeping my game face on, even if I felt like my skin was crawling. Something about this man made me want to cringe and get the hell out of dodge, but I ignored my gut and beamed across at his glaring face.

"Ward, this is another member of your team, Agent Milo Ghost she's level seven." Hill gestured toward me. I swear if his glare were any more violent, I thought I would burst into flames. "Milo this is Agent Grant Ward, he's a level six op." Hill explained, as if I didn't already know. I held out my hand for him to shake, but he only turned his sculpted cheek and left me hanging. Someone needed to get this man a Snicker's and fast. I let Maria finish briefing and pretended to listen and ignored the pit in my stomach that grew every time I saw Agent Ward's scathing eyes.

"Now, what does S.H.I.E.L.D stand for Agent Ward?" Hill inquired, testing his knowledge.

"Strategic homeland intervention enforcement logistics division." The man answered almost disinterested and gave me another hard stare. Five minutes in and I wanted to hurt him.

"And what what does that mean to you?" Hill questioned, more-so to me, but as I opened my mouth, Ward spoke up a decibel louder efficiently drowning me out.

"It means someone really wanted our initials to spell out shield." I rolled my irritated eyes and Hill was silent,looking expectantly at me. I opened my mouth again, but of course, Ward beat me there. "It means we're the line…" Ward started seriously. I got distracted by how hard I already wanted to punch him. I wasn't sure if it was his personality or his face. I groaned inwardly as he continued Hill's eyes begged me to 'hang in there'. "Between the world and the much weirder world." He paused dramatically. "We protect people from things they aren't ready to hear. And when we can't do that, we keep them safe." He finally shut his perfect mouth and allowed me to speak.

"Well," I flicked my eyes to Ward, then back to Maria's diamond blue eyes "to me S.H.I.E.L.D is here to be the stable foundation for an unstable world. We're here to keep the everyday lives of people free of otherworldly harm and unnecessary dangers." Just like Coulson not knowing he was my father. My moment of glory was over when Ward started his speech back up again, I wasn't focused enough to care what he was talking about. I thought back to my father, who I knew was hiding in the shadows in this very room. It was a tremendous effort not to look back at the area I knew he was lurking in. Instead while Ward tossed some chitauri thing that he definitely should NOT have been throwing around I focused on one of the two lamps on the long table beside us, then at the armed man stationed by the conversed about a certain "Vanchat. I only retained mild interest when Agent know-it-all mentioned the Rising Tide hacktivist group. Of course, in everyone else's eyes I was enthralled.

"What's changed?" A sliver of a smirk flickered over my features at his confusion.

"Everything is changing." Maria's eyes studied me for a split second. "A little while ago, people went to bed thinking that the craziest thing in the world was a billionaire in a flying metal suit." I lost focus again, leveling my anxieties and thinking of when the best time would be to bring up my triggers to my new team. Would they take to them well, or would they pull what many agents already have. At least four have sneered in my face, telling me that a S.H.I.E.L.D agent would need to be tougher than to let one scuffle wreck me. Of course they don't have microchips in multiple body parts attached to their nervous system. Not even the best of our organization's doctors could remove them without permanent damage. Ward leaned forward.

"Why was I pulled out of Paris?" Maria held her poker face and crossed her arms in a business as usual posture.

"That, you'll have to ask Agent Coulson" Ward's face changed into a short,condescending smile.

"Uh, yeah. I'm clearance level six." His tone became the slightest bit gentler. "I know that Agent Coulson was killed in action." He paused empathetically. "Before the Battle of New York. Got the full report."

"Welcome to level seven." Phil emerged from the shadows and even though I knew he was there, that didn't stop my heart from racing. That was my dad. This man created me. Of course he moved from a dark corner, dramatically, that was totally my style."Sorry, that corner was really dark and I couldn't help myself" He had a light tone to his voice. "I...think a bulb is out."

Once again, I held out my palm in a friendly gesture, and this time Phil shook it with a smile. This was my dad, for sure, I had his lips. I stayed standing with enthusiasm.

"Nice to see you up and well, Sir." My smile mirrored his. "I look forward to working with you." My father retreated his hand.

"You as well, Agent Ghost, I've heard great things from your file."I felt pride swell deep in my chest, but of course Ward had to stick his pretty little head in and fuck it up.

"You look like you're thirteen, how old even are you?"I watched him smirk and straighten his suit's sleeve like a men in black cosplay gone wrong,

"Old enough to know how to be polite." I spun to face my father and lifted my hand over my mouth, as if I was keeping a secret. "That makes one of us." Coulson smothered a laugh. We were ushered to another area and crowded into an elevator. Needless to say, I felt really uncomfortable with only a fraction of my arm pressed against Ward's. I was more than grateful to feel the upheaval and watch the doors slide open.

"Director Fury faked your death." Ward pieced together. "To motivate the Avengers." Maria stuck with the lie. I was trying not stare at my father, as it would cause suspicion which was the last thing I needed. Nick was depending on me to do my job well. My attention snagged when the three spoke of Phil's death. He'd been through just as much as I had. If anyone understood my trauma, it would be him. The mention of Tahiti sobered me further and reminded me of the original mission. Maria pulled up feed of our first mission. On the screen was an 'unregistered gifted' as Hill put it, and he was saving a life.

"How are they getting to this before us?" Coulson answered Ward's inquiry.

"The same way they cracked our RSA implementation." Coulson crossed his arms. "They're good. So I need better." Maria broke Ward the news of our assignment. He did not take it the way we had hoped.

"You want me to cross them out." Ward wanted to kill them? Where is that Snicker's, Jesus. My father apparently agreed.

"Wow, no." He pressed on "I want to use them to get to _him_." A minute passed as the group tried unsuccessfully to follow their lead. Coulson went over my reports first, like I knew he would.

"It looks like your observation skills have been the closer for quite a few cases, helping fellow agents dodge bullets. Figuratively AND literally." I grinned bashfully. "But it says here your combat skills are lacking." I tried not to deflate too much. He switched to Ward's mission report and halfway through I caught a small gleam in his eye and preconceived the humor that followed."Under people skills, she drew a-" his brow furrowed a bit in confusion "I think it's a little poop." I snorted indelicately, but disguised it as a cough before Maria gave me another icy stare. "With knives sticking out of it." I slapped a hand to my face, completely unable to hide my amusement at watching Ward leaned in with crossed arms to inspect the doodle. Hill, however was much less amused than I. I doubled over and thankfully missed the ending statement trying to get my doctor who gave me my mandatory physical stepped in, stroking his snow white beard, which was a stark contrast from his tan skin, unconsciously as he tried not to look at me. The man hid internal guilt for even seeing the scars Hydra left, as though they were a heavily guarded secret that in itself required a level of clearance. In a blink of an eye, the doctor covered his nervous tick.

"Team's approved. Physicals are all fine" He crossed the room, casually, and handed a file to Maria, still not meeting my eyes. "Fitz-Simmons is not cleared for combat, nor Agent Ghost." He spoke a tad too quickly to be in a comfortable situation. "I'm told that won't be an issue. And Agent Ward here-he's almost too fit." He meant it as a joke with his white brow raised , but the flash of bitterness didn't escape my eye. I wasn't known for reading people for no reason what-so-ever. Ward, however saw this as an opportunity.

" _That's_ an should be an issue" He really wanted out, and I had to give him props for creativity, but I still felt something off. I ignored my instinct again. He kept on "maybe I can't join the team because my-" a slow, quiet chuckle passed through the lips that reflected the man next to me as Maria spoke over him.

" _God,_ are you dismissed." No ifs ands or buts about it. I covertly mouthed my thanks to Maria. He left immediately, but I lingered just long enough to hear what had to have made my day.

"It was a porcupine. It was not a poop." She said hurriedly, addressing me as well. "It just means that he-" My dad cut her off.

"No, I'm pretty sure." I waved to Maria and limited myself to giving Coulson and the doctor both courteous nods. I left to report back to Nick Fury himself.


	2. Chapter 2: When Tides Change

Chapter two: When the tide's change

The time finally came to move into the "bus", which still made no sense to me, seeing as though it was obviously a plane. I stood at the bottom of the ramp, completely unnoticed by a pair arguing by the ramp. Ward (sadly) was already there, staring at the two. One of the duo was a stunning Brit who's eyes twinkled as she bickered with her Scotsman counterpart. Accents dripped from every word, fascinating me to my core.

"Watch it! That's the night-night gun." Ward seemed less than pleased with the reveal of his team mates. The British girl blew her pin straight hair from her eyes and retorted.

"Well, it's on my stuff, and it doesn't work." I raised my eyebrows and stepped into the light, just realizing that I pulled a copycat of Coulson. "And there's no way we're calling it 'the night-night gun'." The girl lifted a red suitcase and the argument continued as they moved into a lab. My face contorted while I tried not to laugh at the arguing pair.

"The bullets work." The Scottish boy argued, his light curls bouncing as he protested with a what I guessed were prototype bullets in his hand. He was absolutely precious. "Non-lethal, heavy stopping power, break up under the subcutaneous tissue-" His eyebrows lifted, when she cut him off. I trailed behind Ward who was watching the interaction with a pained expression.

"Oh, with only .1 microliters of Dendrotoxin" I watched her eyes widen and her brows scoop down "I'm not Hermione," Ward became especially exasperated, and I loved every second of it "I can't create instant paralysis with that." She continued letting her bags gently to the floor. I almost made a bet to myself about when they would notice my presence. The curly haired boy responded, getting frustrated, but I could tell it was all friendly. They bickered like an old married couple, speaking over each other, neither truly listening to the other. In a sudden crash, I distractedly bumped into Ward. The duo stopped short at the sound of his bags falling and I found myself sprawled onto the floor. I didn't get up right away, as I had hit my knee and cheek on the cold, solid, floor. Curly turned to me, concern in his expression, meanwhile Ward once again stole the show.

"Fitz-Simmons?" He asked, clearly unimpressed, but that didn't seem to bother the excitable brit who gestured to Curly.

"Fitz." In turn, Fitz gestured to her announcing to us both.

"Simmons. I'm engineering, she's biochem." The two were practically symbiotic, and it amused me greatly. "Agent Ward?" he asked Mr. Tall, dark and infuriating. Ward nodded , pushing me out of his walking space with his foot, which was RUDE as fuck by the way.

"Excuse you." I called after him, sharply. Fitz took the comm-receiver from Ward's hand, carefully edging around me, trying not to step on me, so I stood, and I stood tall. Fitz looked expectantly at me.

"I'm Agent Ghost." I explained hoping that everything was aligned. They could NOT get their hands on my Dna. That would blow it all. Fitz smiled shyly and nodded, moving to his lab table.

"Yours is all set than, Agent Ghost." I had been using that name for an entire year in preparation, and I still thought it was pretty badass. Ward kept a distance behind Fitz, his tone the smallest bit smug.

"Don't know if you've worked with that model before. It's-" The change in expression as Fitz smashed down the hammer on Ward's expensive toy was enough to topple me over. He finished his statement to himself "brand new." At that point I was internally hysterical, but I managed to tone it down to a smug grin that stretched from ear to ear. Simmons, who was doing something else, explained it to him as nonchalantly as possible as though it would reassure his thoughts.

"He'll repurpose the I.D.I.S. chip." Fitz finished off her statement, staring intently at the chip he was holding with a pair of tweezers.

"Don't need the external receiver for the inner-ear comms anymore." Ward pretended to follow along by asking a question, but Simmons interrupted by forcing a cotton swab into his mouth, which thankfully, for my sake, shut him up pretty effectively. Simmons explained the answer to his question without even needing to hear the rest. After her work was done, she pulled out pleasantries.

"So, are you guys excited to be coming on our journey into mystery?" She met my eyes and I can't tell you how excited she was. I could tell that there was slight hesitation, but Fitz was much for hesitant than Simmons. My guess was it her idea.

Ward apparently felt the need to ruin everything with sarcasm, not that I'm against sarcasm, it's my greatest skill, but he was being an ass when he said "It's like Christmas." Simmons wasn't phased the least bit as she wrinkled her nose with a smile and continued her activities. Behind me there was terrible screeching that caused me to nearly jump out of my skin, but I gulped some air and calmed my anxious body. I spun on my heel to see a cherry red corvette, and God was she a beauty. Fitz spoke up as we watched Coulson pull in.

"That's one of Coulson's old S.H.I.E.L.D collectables." Just then, I realized my jaw was hanging and remembered my poker face. "Flamethrowers, world's first G.P.S, he's mad for this crap." I scoffed at Fitz and shushed him, bending down to look at the car, but not close enough to touch.

"She's beautiful, don't listen to mean old Fitzy." I muttered as a worker clad in orange bent down, apparently too close for comfort as Coulson's first words were. "Don't touch Lola." I smiled up at my father, ecstatic to be next to the classic car.

"Lola, I like it." I assured him. I barely registered Fitz speaking in the background. Coulson looked down at me, delighted and offered to show us the "bus". We rounded up some stairs as he spoke to me.

"Lola's not just a collectable, you know" I blinked up at him.

"I wouldn't think so, Sir." Coulson showed us the second floor and kept speaking.

"People tend to confuse the words 'new' and 'improved'." he pointed to the plane "this mobile command unit, they were in heavy rotation back in the 90's." I almost blew the whole thing right then and there with my inability to keep my stupid mouth shut. I had almost admitted to the bus being older than me, without remembering that my fake age was six years older than my real age. I turned my attention back to my father. "But, then we got the helicarrier." A few men in jumpsuits swiftly passed by us. I rolled my eyes several times in the next few moments when Ward ruined a perfectly good joke. May rounded to corner, telling us to unpack and gave me a meaningful look. I nodded with dual meaning and dispersed to unpack my things. I spent most of the time meditating before being called down, considering I was anxious about flying and anxious about Ward and anxious about my father and maybe I should have considered a journal. We finally touched down and I about kissed the ground, I'm sure I would have, had Coulson not rushed Ward and I out to a pretty bitchin' purple van under the orders to bring this Rising Tide member in. The alley was so stereotypical, I could have cried, and Ward seemed way too into this mission. A female voice was speaking up, reciting what sounded like a rehearsed speech, but A+ on the delivery.

Phil's face held a satisfied smirk as he threw open the van door, no doubt trying for the perfect timing. I really was his kid. There was a girl with long wavy hair and eyes like a deer in a headlight. This was also satisfying as hell. She stopped dead and turned to face us with a weak 'hey, what up?' I had the perfect comment ready, but Goddamn Ward stuck a black bag over her face with much more force than necessary. Needless to say, I bitched about that the entire way back to the "bus". Ward forcefully dragged her on the plane, still glaring daggers at me, but in return I only popped some bubblegum and sighed at his unnecessary display of testosterone. Not that it wasn't just an itty bit attractive, but never mind that. Poor girl, we just wanted to talk. Coulson placed his hand on my shoulder, pushing me into the interrogation room. My job was to observe her personality and unconscious ticks to report to Coulson what the best methods might be to get her to speak.

"You guys are making a big mistake." She warned, only fueling Ward's need to compensate. He obviously found her attractive judging by the way his eyebrows softened when he took off the weird, black, head bag, which I still thought was unnecessary. He responded, which I knew would get us nowhere.

"Funny, you don't look very big to me." He laughed to himself and watched her push her hair out of her face. Once again I saw his eye brows soften and his chest puff out subtly. He crossed the room to Coulson, who apologized, but I only smiled and waved to let her know that I wasn't in any way like Ward.

"Sorry for the lack of finesse. Agent Ward here has had a little history with your group, The Rising Tide." I sighed again and couldn't help myself.

"Of course he does." My dad shot me a look, but the young woman spoke up.

"I don't know what you're-." Ward spoke over her.

"Okay , there are two ways we can do this." I muttered under my breath, causing her the slightest amusement.

"Do you have to be that stereotypical?" Ward gave me the evil eye, even though Coulson was holding back a smile. I grinned back at Ward, knowing full well that it would piss him off. My outburst gave her a boost of confidence.

"Oh, is one of them the easy way?" she mocked with a condescending smile. This girl was growing on me. Ward replied with a malicious 'no'. "Oh" Coulson moved the interrogation along by asking her name. She answered saying it was Skye, but Ward didn't seem to believe it.

"What's your real name?" he pressed. I sighed louder this time.

"That can wait." My father cut in "It's another name we need- a certain hero." Sky seemed to comprehend what he was saying, and she did not look happy.

"What makes you think I know that?" I let my mind wander as they recited some tech babble that meant absolutely nothing to me. I could, however decipher that Skye wanted it to look like she planned this whole thing, but false confidence only goes so far.

"Want to tell me what my team is going to find out?" He continued after her silence. "How did you know the hooded man was in the building?" He was good, but she wasn't close to cracking, I assumed she would need rule bender to open up to. I noted that. Ward, of course jumped to most violent conclusion. I sent him a look that hopefully came across as saying 'you're an idiot'.

"Did you blow up the building to draw him out?" He stood so close to her, I could practically hear her personal bubble popping. Like I said, testosterone. He was attempting to be intimidating and domineering to scare the information out of her. Frankly, to me he just looked like a jackass. She raised her eyes to meet his, fearlessly. I had a hunch that the next thing out of her mouth was going to kill me in the best way.

"Did you?" I stood in the corner and couldn't stop myself from pointing at him with an accompanied laugh. I decided that I liked this girl, already. Coulson intervened.

"That's not our style." Skye gave him a disbelieving look.

"I was just _kidnapped_ , by your style." She spat out fiercely. I spaced out for a moment, I'll admit, I was juggling my thoughts between how attractive Ward was and how much I wanted to hit him with a car door. The she said something about "centipede". I watched Ward's face give away every single thought in a gesture that was so stupidly obvious. He pretended to scratch his head and questioned Coulson. The gesture was _so_ obvious that either Ward meant it to be discreet and failed, or it was staged. I wouldn't doubt the second option either.

"Holy no way." I tilted my head in agreement and gave Ward a "What the fuck is wrong with you" face. I really hoped he was better at reading expressions than he was at "discreetly" asking about intel. "You don't know what that is." Skye stated. She flickered her eyes to me. I shrugged in response. Skye turned back to my father and gave him a lecture that I felt was not worth my focus. For a moment, I wondered if I should have started taking meds for my A.D.H.D. again.

"You need to think about your friend. We're not the only one's interested in people with powers." Coulson looked at her with soft, pleading eyes. "We want to contain him, yeah." He admitted "But the next guy will want to exploit him." She looked back to me with questioning eyes. May face remained solemn. "And the guy after that will want to dissect him." My face twisted into a cringe at the thought. And of course, Ward missed his limelight.

"What is centipede?" Skye turned to me, her voice much more friendly.

"You don't talk much, do you?" For the third time in the hour, the moment I started talking, Grant interrupted.

"On the contrary, we can't get her to shut up." I sucked in a deep breath and closed my eyes, praying for patience. Coulson held his hands up in surrender.

"Hey, don't bring me into this, I just want to know what Centipede is." At this point, I was ready to throw Grant Ward out of the plane. Sky glanced at me, apologetic and stood up.

"Centipede-it was chatter on the web" she paused, turning to look at us all "and then gone." she lifted her hands, showing her frustrations. "I traced the Access-point Mac address to that building." Ward continued with the questioning, looking a tad defeated as he sat.

"What were you after?" I had a feeling I knew the answer to this one. She quickly spun his way.

"The truth." Ten points to Gryffindor, I was correct. She tilted her head, irritated. "What are _you_ after." By turning the question around, I could tell that Sky would take something good to really talk. I jotted that down with a few of my other notes. I snorted out the water I was drinking when Ward answered 'world peace'. That was rich, coming from the world's most confrontational MiB agent. I quickly apologized and waved the group along.

"You pseudo-anarchist hacker types love to stir things up, but you're never around for the fallout." Wow, such big words for such a simple man. I resisted the urge to say it out loud. I wasn't going to over-do it, but GOD I wanted to. He stood up again and he lost me. I can't tell you how long a spaced out, but I had all the intel observations that I needed. If the self-righteous prick would let me talk then maybe, just maybe, we could actually get somewhere. I heard the word toolbag, and I knew that Skye and I were going to get along, just fine.

"She might as well be one of those sweaty cosplay girls crowding around Stark tower." I took offense to that.

"Excuse me, I cosplay." I started getting testy. He turned with a triumphant grin.

"My point exactly." Oh I was so going to punch this little fucker out. Before I could respond, Coulson, who was obviously done with our arguing, got to his feet and left the room, pulling me with him. I heard Sky muttering to herself. "It was one time." God bless that girl. It was all I could do not to laugh in Ward's face as he was chewed.

"Is it the girl? Is she getting under your skin?" Was he referring to Skye, or me? All I knew was Ward was failing horribly and I relished that. Did that make me a shitty person?

"Are you so anxious to get out of the assignment that you'd deliberately blow an interrogation?" That must have been a good slap to his pride. "And completely ignoring any kind of logical help from a teammate?" I raised my brow.

"Give me a minute alone with her, you'll have your answers." I bit my tongue. Phil looked to me.


	3. Chapter 3: Skye's the limit

A/N: Hey guys, I just wanted to let you that there will be themes of p.t.s.d. And sexual abuse in upcoming chapters and throughout the story. I personally have it, so I know the info is accurate. Bare with me and I hope you like this chapter, it's super long.

Chapter three: Skye's the limit

"Ghost, whatcha got?" Finally. I smirked over and quirked a taunting eyebrow at Ward.

"More than enough." He motioned for me to continue, but I couldn't pass up a patronizing smirk toward Ward. "Well, Skye is used to being independent, on her own, I could tell by the way kept glancing back at me, because I was distanced from you two. Now, she also responded best to my little comments, and obviously sought me out to speak." I glared directly at Ward. "Her mouth twitched in frustration every time you" I pointed at him "Spoke over me. I could tell that my hesitance to follow the proper techniques caught her eye." Coulson nodded in understanding "She would obviously be a lot more trusting with someone she can see bending rules, proving that we are not, in fact, government robots, unlike Ward, here. She definitely knows everything we need." Ward opened his mouth again, but Coulson spoke first, leaving the dominating man confused.

"You are awesome," Phil tilted his head "albeit, kind of creepy, but well done. She's an asset." Grant's head tilted.

"She is _such_ an a-" Don't finish that, big guy. "Wait , asset?" I took another soothing breath and rubbed my temples. I waited for Coulson to handle him, because I was done. I looked away for all of two seconds only to see some kind of serum in a briefcase. I desperately hoped that Coulson wouldn't ignore my analysis. We gathered back in the interrogation room where Sky sat with a stony expression. There Coulson pulled out the serum.

"This is QNB-T16." At this point, even I was confused. "It's the top shelf martini of sodium pentathol derivatives." Still not following, dad. "It's a brand new and extremely potent truth drug." I was starting to think that Coulson and Ward were more alike than I anticipated. He told her not to worry, that the effects only lasted an hour. Ward rubbed his hands together, almost gleefully. It was creepy as fuck.

"And you'll have a nice little nap." Sky looked back to me for support. "And we'll have all the answers to our-" Coulson surprised us all by stabbing Ward in the arm to inject the serum, and it was honestly amazing. Seeing his face all screwed up in pain was a guilty pleasure. "Hey- what the hell?" Grant demanded through gritted teeth.

"I'm sorry. Did that hurt?" Coulson smiled clinically. Ward denied that it hurt. Lies.

"You should never do that to a member of your team, and yes, it did hurt a little bit." I pulled up a chair, ready for the show. It continued to stream from his lips like a faucet "But I always try and mask my pain in front of beautiful women." Was that a plural I heard? It practically poured from his mouth "because I think it makes me seem more masculine." Oh this was some good shit. I pulled my phone out, silently pressing record and slipped it casually onto the table.

"I'd say this was well deserved." I snapped at Ward.

"And I'm all over your ass because you look younger than me and I am thoroughly intimidated by your skill level so I know I'll keep putting you down to make myself feel better. It makes me feel kind of guilty, but It's nothing personal. I also think it's creepy that you analyze people and I'm afraid you don't think I'm attractive." I raised an eyebrow and nudged Skye. Skye smirking over at me, "My _God_ , this stuff works fast." He took a seat, cringing all the while. Coulson spoke directly to Skye, just as amused as us.

"Don't trust us? Ask him whatever you'd like. Except for you, Ghost. Just supervise."

"Oh, Gladly, Sir." Ward protested, but my dad was already out the door. I was so ready for this. "Hey, Skye. My name is Milo, Milo Ghost." She nodded and smiled wolfishly.

"I think I like you, Milo." Skye removed her jacket to turn up the heat. His eyes _obviously_ weren't on hers. I followed suit and leaned forward onto the table, sending him a curious glance.

"You seem nervous, Agent Ward." He nearly stuttered when he finally responded.

I'm calling to mind my training." I was soaking this up like a sponge in a bowl of water. Skye stood and began circling him, almost shark-like. I could finitely see her working for us. "There is no way I'm gonna reveal classified secrets" I knew deep down, Skye wouldn't go there, and I was thankful "To a girl who's hell-bent on taking us down." he finished, feigning confidence and vindication.

"Have you ever killed anyone?" Skye's eyes bored into Ward.

"Yes, a few." He closed his eyes in self frustration and tried to mask his slip-up "High risk targets." His voice was an octave too high to masquerade his nerves. I was going to have a blast with this. This went on for a solid hour and I recorded the whole damn thing. Finally, the poor guy's head dropped to the table. I left him passed out, though not without debating whether or not to draw a mustache on him. I didn't, if you were wondering. I softly shut the door behind me.

"And he wishes you'd stayed in Tahiti."

"It's a magical place." I cringed inwardly. I wasn't sure what exactly happened with project Tahiti, but I knew it brought him back.

" Not to mention that he thinks Milo is either faking her age, or slept her way to the top."

"He out ruled the possibility of me just being useful." I laughed, I would really need to watch my back with that one.

"Ward doesn't like your style. I kind of think I do." My father gave me quick nod for a job well done. Coulson had a sudden change in mood as he showed Skye live news feeds of the man in the hood having attacked someone. Skye backpedaled and defended him, but the evidence was overwhelming. "He just needs a break."

"Then give him one. What have you got?" Well that sure as hell did it. Soon enough, the man was I.D'd as Mike Peterson as we sat around the giant ass hologram table. Fitz was leaning on his forearms over the table, Simmons stood close behind him looking down. Across from them stood May. Coulson explained the events leading up to now. "Good guy, bad breaks." Fitz pulled up a video of two men, one in a lab coat from before the blast.. Agent May questioned Fitz.

"What are we seeing here?" Well Fitz didn't seem to be much of a public speaker. I spaced out again knowing that full well I was staring at his -um face.

"Well, the man is angry at the other man." May's face dropped and I almost snorted. Simmons jumped to his rescue.

"The data is very corrupt." This got Fitz talking.

"Yeah, like cold war Russia corrupt." I snicker from my spot in the corner. "I can't sync the time-code without-" Skye interrupted him with an idea.

"What if you had the audio? I was running surveillance on the lab. I had my shotgun mic pointed at the window before the blast." She brought her fingers up to toy with her lips. "The digital file is in my van. There's too much background noise for me, but you can probably-"

"You can clean that up can't you?" pushed Simmons enthusiastically. The two bounced ideas for a moment before Fitz felt confident that he could. I let out a relieved breath. I was already getting tired. I would need a daily caffeine fix to keep up in the big leagues. We went our separate ways, but Coulson stopped me before I could make a dash for the Keurig machine.

"Is there something you want to let me know before we go out into the field? Maria Hill said I should ask you." My stomach sank to my feet. I was not prepared for this now of all times. I bit my bottom lip.

"Yes, Sir. Maria probably thought you should know my triggers. You must have read that I have P.T.S.D in my file." He nodded.

"And if you ever need to talk, I'm here." I flashed a reassuring grin.

"Thank you, Sir. Now I'll elaborate later, but there are certain triggers that should be avoided at all costs unless I bring them up first. The first is Hydra." Coulson's eyes bulged. I sped up the pace to give him a proper explanation. "It's not in my file, it's carefully guarded, but I was taken by Hydra for a year." There was a crack in my voice that I couldn't quite clear. "Like I said, I'll get back to you on that. Sudden noises should be avoided, unless I'm told to expect it. If I am to be yelled at, let May do it, she's trained yell at me." We laughed in unison, both thinking separately about our experiences with May.

"It seems May is trained for everything." My dad joked. "Anything else?"

"Normally I'll tell people if something triggers me, mainly because I can't list everything in the world. I might ask you to spar with me every once in awhile to desensitize myself." He nodded dutifully.

"We can discuss later. Is any of this relevant for now?" I examined every possible way it could go.

"All I ask is to warn me if things are likely to be physical so I can mentally prepare. And something about Ward puts me on edge, but I think that should pass." I quietly chuckled at myself.

"Okay, Ghost, thank you for trusting me." I slipped out and down into the lab to watch the progress. I heard Fitz tripping over his words.

"So,uh, uh wh-when you get back, I'll show you my thing." He quickly corrected himself.

"I mean A thing-It's not-It's my hardware." He grimaced and tried again. "My equipment." He could hear me cackling and gave up. "Let's hang up." He ripped out the Bluetooth. The poor kid was sweating, in obvious distress. Coulson was across the room talking to Simmons. I wasn't needed in the lab, so I stepped into the back of the room. I couldn't stop myself from jumping as Ward hurricaned in. My pulse jumped as he talked through the hologram. The hologram raised his voice and now I felt my chest constricting. Struggling, I remembered my training and therapy. Remove yourself from the situation. So I backed out and went for the back. Walk it off. I counted one by one, every footstep. I found a comfortable seat next to the window and plugged in. I stuck my earbuds in and watched clouds fly by in wisps. I was soon joined by Coulson and Ward, of course Ward was messing around with a weapon. I couldn't help but to be disappointed in myself. Phil crossed over to me.

"Ghost, can we talk?" That was never a good sign. Ward's eyes flickered across the room to me, but he swiftly tinkered with a sniper rifle with an audible click. I nodded my head, feeling like a failure for my lack of stability.

"Yeah, of course." My voice shook, threatening to break, but I was an agent, and agents didn't cry. Coulson lead me to my little bunk room. I sat on my cot, made comfortable for mobile living. Coulson pointed to two pictures on my wall. One was a signed picture of Steve Rogers, Fury promised me he'd get it after my first solo mission when I was thirteen.

"You're a fan too." It was a welcome distraction.

"Yeah, my Supervising officer got that for me after my first mission." Guilt shot through me like a bullet. I mean I wasn't a total lie, right?

"Really, who was your S.O.?" It was an innocent question, but I would have to let May take one for the team. I smiled, lying through gritted teeth.

"Actually, I'm not supposed to tell you that, but It was May. Coulson's forehead creased in surprise.

"Really, May? That explains a lot. No offence." Considering that May didn't actually train me, I was, in fact, offended. I shrugged it off. The other picture was of me posing with Dr. Bruce Banner. Coulson raised his eyebrows curiously at the photo.

"I consulted with him about the neutralizers, it was a dead end, but we really hit it off. We used to get coffee every Friday." Coulson's smile slipped.

"That brings me to my point. We're going into a hostage situation." I nodded him forward. "I don't want you coming." My heart sank. That absolutely gutted me. My own father didn't think I was capable of keeping my shit together for five minutes. "Don't get the wrong idea, I just think that you've done your job today. I'm sure when you get used to being back into the action it'll be easier for you…" My shoulders were tense with disappointment.

"But you don't want me to mess it up. I understand, Sir." My father was taken aback, blue eyes shocked.

"No, I just want to get you used to it first. I don't want you to have avoidable stress until you get back into the field. I want you to feel safe." That night I shot him the fakest smile I had ever managed. When Coulson thought I had understood his intentions, the group took off. Without me, and with a hacker who had no training what-so-ever. I was quite the ego blow. However, I got let it drift the back of my mind when I realized, we were keeping her. We had a pet hacker.


End file.
